Article handling apparatus



A; E. DROBISH ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 6, 1942 Oct. 9,1945.

Oct. 9, 1945. v E. DROBISH 2 386,545

I ARTICLE fihNDlING -APPARATUS v Fiied Jun' 6. 1942 2 She ets-Sheet 2 Iwvmro/r A. 5 DROBLSH therein.

Other objects scription. taken in conjunction .--lowing'drawings,wherein:

fassemblyy Patented Oct. 9, 1945 7 ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Adolph E.Drobish, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to Western ElectricCompany,'lncorporated, New

'. York, N. Y.,'a corporation of New York Application June 6,1942,Serial No. 446,155 v Q Claims; This invention relatesto article handlingapparatus, and more particularlyto an apparatus for stacking articles ina hopper.

In the manufacture of switchboard type lamps,

blanks may be formed from lengths of glass tubing, placed in a hopperand the hopper placed on :an apparatus which positions'the filament andV f'filamentlsupport in the bulb and then exhausts the: air from thelamp. Itis particularly desirable that the blanks be uniformly stackedin the hopper since the s'ucceeding operations are largely automatic andunless the blanks are accurately .stacked, jamming and breakage oftheblanks finaygresult. It may be desirable to provide automatic apparatusfor stacking the blanks in the hopperratherthan to have the bulbsstacked by hand. .However, due to the fragility of the blanks and their,relatively small size, considerable diffi- In accordance with onembodiment of thisihvention, an apparatus-may be provided comprising astacking device havingla removable hopper positioned thereon and a chutefor conveying blanks to be stacked to a reciprocating plunger whichlifts the blanks into the hopper. A coop- ,erating slide memberforretaining the blanks in the. hopper operates, in timedrelationship tothe plunger and a Weight maybe provided to rest on the top of the blanksas theyare stacked in'the hopper. to.cause;them to be. positioned evenlyV and advantages of thisinvention willbe apparent from the followingdetailed dewith the fol- (Cl. 214-6) v stacking apparatus, the plungerbeing in raised position;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

. culties have been experienced in stacking of bulbs ecause of breakageand lack of uniformity in..

, stacking.

Fig. 9 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 7 showing, however, the retaining slidein retaining position beneath the hopper; and

Fig. 10 is a vertical section along the line l0l 0 of Fig. 9. V I

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, anapparatus for stacking articles such as switchboard type lamp blanks I Iin a removable magazine or hopper I2 is shown. The housing for thestacking apparatus, which includes a support for the hopper, comprises abase l3 on which are mounted a rear plate I4 and an irregularly shapedfront plate IS. A body member I6 is mounted at one side of the base andbetween the plates M and I5. Its upperportion together with a block I!mounted at the upper end of a side plate I8, and between the plates l4and 5, forms a V-shaped support for the removable hopper l2. v

Alsmall angularlyshaped member l9- together with the lower portion ofbody member It forms a chamber 20 in which is positioned a cam recippairof guide plates 24 mounted on the under side of the plunger base 23 andspaced to permit a cam and cam slide32 to move freely between them,extend downwardly from the base to serve as guides. for the plungerassembly, slidably engaging the inner surface of the body member l6 andthe member l9, as well as one side of block 33 which serves as'a supportfor the cam slide. A slot25 is provided in each plate 24 to 7 permit the'plates to move freely over a cam shaft 4|.

".Fig. .1 is a fragmentary front elevationfshowing V ian articlestacking apparatus; 7 a

r 1 Fig.2 isa vertical section along the line 2-2 ofFig.1;'-

Fig. 3 is a detail front view of the plunger 'Fig. 4 is a detail sideview of the plunger asisemblyr 1 'Fig.' -5 isan enlarged sectional viewalong the" D line 5 '5'of Fig. 1;" i I V As may be seen in Figs. 1, '7and 9, a retaining slide 30 is mounted on the top of an upwardlyextending portion 3| of the cam slide 32 and serves to retain blanks inthe hopper when the plunger 22 is withdrawn. The portion of theretaining slide 30 which engages the blanks comprises a number offingers 34, shown in Fig. 5,

.which, when in supporting position, may enter anequivalent number ofslots 21 in the plunger 22. The relativemovements of the plunger and theslide are timed so that the fingers of the slide are positioned in theslots before the blank engaging surface of the plunger, that is, the topof the plunger is below the level of the-slide. Thus, the blanks are atall times supported at or above that level. This arrangement isparticularly desirable with fragile articles such as glass lamp blanksbecause if the slide were not in retaining position underneath theblanks before the plunger moved downward below the level of the slide,as would be the case if the plunger were not slotted and the blankengaging portion of the slide designed to enter the slots, it would bedifiicult to insert the retaining slide without breaking the blanks.

As shown in Figs. 2, 8 and 10, in the operation of this apparatus, whichis mounted at a slight angle from the vertical, a'blank H is fed' bygravity to the apparatus through a chute '31 and slides into position onthe top of the plunger. The cam 39 is keyed to and supported by arotating shaft M, which is journalled in the plates Hi and if: at therear and front of .the housing. In the course of a cycle of operation,the cam engages first the cam slide 32, moving it against a spring 35,one end of which is positioned at the rear of the block and the otherend of which rests on the inner surface of the side plate l8. As the camcontinues to be rotated, the fingers 34 of the retaining slide move outof the slots 21 in the plunger to permit a blank to be raised. At thesame time the cam will have engaged the under side of the base 23 of theplunger and have begun to move the plunger and supported blank upwardtoward the opening in the bottom of the hopper and consequently abovethe level of the fingers of the slide, reaching the position shown inFigs. 7 and 8. It will be noted, as evident in Fig. 1, that the blankjust elevated does not reach the hopper on that cycle of operation.However, as additional blanks are elevated, those previously elevatedare positioned in the hopper, being elevated by the succeeding blanks,and the blanks in the hopper will be moved upwards a distance equivalentto the displacement of the blank just elevated.

It will be evident upon referring to Figs. 9 and 10' that when theplunger is raised to its maximum height, the projecting portion of thecam 46 will have ceased to engage the block 32. Thus, at this point theretaining fingers have been returned to their original position in theslots of the plunger by the spring 35. These figures show the retainingfingers in position beneath the blanks while the blanks are stillsupported by the plunger. As the cam completes its cycle of operation,however, the plunger is lowered substantially below the retainingfingers and returns to the starting position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,a pair of springs 28 urging the plunger downwards. The stack of blanksin the hopper and just below the opening in the hopper is then supportedby the retainingfingers 34, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As may be seen in Figs. .8 and 10, as the plunger is moved upwards, thenext blank to be elevated, since its front end rests on the rear end ofthe blank on the plunger, will also be raised but since it is engagedonly at one end, it will be raised at an angle to the plunger. In orderto facilitate the return of this succeeding blank to the chuteso that itmay be positioned on the plunger, a hairpin-shaped member 29 is mountedon the front of the plunger, that is to say, the side from which theblanks are positioned on the plunger, and as the plunger returns to thestarting position, the member 29 engages the raised end of thesucceeding blank and pulls it down so that the blank slides onto theplunger, urged forward by the weight of the other blanks in the chute.

A pair of bars 43 joined at their ends by cross members 44 andpositioned in slots 45 in the sides of the hopper and provided with aweight 46 rests on the top of the stck of blanks in the hopper and serveto keep the upper level of the stack uniform. As has been indicated,since the hopper and blanks are to be positioned on an automaticlamp-making machine, it is very desirable that the blanks be uniformlyarranged in :the hopper and unless such a levelling device is provided,the blanks might tend to pile up on .one side of the hopper and then onreaching a certain height to rearrange themselves, as additional blankswere added, with consequent danger of breakage and lack of uniformity inposition. The cross members 44 closely engage the sides of the hopperand since they are relatively long and move up and down the sides of thehODper, they tend to keep the bars substantially horizontal and parallelto the base l3.

After the hopper has been filled suificiently with blanks, it is removedfrom the stacking apparatus and an empty hopper placed in position. Inorder to prevent blanks from falling out of the hopper, a flat plate 41,shown in Fig. 6, the ends of which are bent upwards at an angle so as tobe able to engage the lower portion of the hopper, is inserted in thebase of the hopper. It is necessary to raise the blanks in the hopperslightly to make room for the slide and therefore slots 49 are provided,as shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 9, in the hopper supporting blocks l6 and [1so that a fiat tool may be inserted in slots 50 in the sides of thehopper and used to raise the blanks. The plate 41 may then be insertedin the hopper with its upwardly bent sides 48 resting on the inner sidesof the hopper. The tool is then withdrawn and the hopper removed fromthe stacking apparatus.

While but one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described,it will be understood that many modifications and alterations may bemade therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for stacking articles in a hopper, a reciprocableplunger for elevating an article to the hopper, movable means forretaining said elevated article in said hopper, said plunger and saidmovable retaining means having cam surfaces spaced at an angularity ofand in the path of a single cam, and a cam associated with said plungerand said retaining means having a single camming surface forsuccessively operating said plunger and said retaining means.

2. In an apparatus for stacking articles in a hopper, a reciprocableplunger for elevating an article to the hopper, movable means forretaining an elevated article in said hopper, said plunger and saidmovable retaining means having cam surfaces positioned at right anglesto each other and in the path of a single cam, and a cam keyed to saidshaft having a single cam surface for successively operating saidplunger and said retaining means.

3. In an apparatus for stacking articles in a hopper having an openingin the lower portion thereof, a reciprocable retaining member slidablymounted beneath said hopper opening, a plunger movable transversely ofsaid retaining member for elevating an article to said hopper, saidplunger and said movable retainin means having ,cam engaging surfaces atan angularity of 90 and in the path of a single cam, a continuouslyrotating shaft, and a cam keyed to said shaft having a single cammingsurface for moving said retaining member away from said opening, saidcam then elevating said plunger.

4. In an apparatus for stacking articles in a hopper having an openingin the lower portion thereof, a reciprocable retaining member slidablymounted beneath said hopper opening, a plunger for elevating an articleto said hopper, said plunger and said reciprocatable retaining memberhaving cam engaging surfaces positioned at an angularity of 90 and inthe path of a single cam, a

I continuously rotating shaft, and a cam secured ADOLPH E. DROBISH.

